Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T15:15:31.017Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pronghorn Dental Age Profiles and Holocene Hunting Strategies at Hogup Cave, Utah

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

David A. Byers  and
Brenda L. Hill
David A. Byers
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology, Missouri State University, 901 S. National Ave., Springfield, MO 65897 ([email protected])
Brenda L. Hill
Affiliation:
ENTRIX Inc., 807 East South Temple, Suite 350, Salt Lake City, UT 84102 ([email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this article, we use pronghorn dental age data to document pronghorn hunting strategies at Hogup Cave, Utah, and explore their relationship with a widespread late Holocene trend in increasing large-game abundances noted in archaeofaunal contexts throughout western North America. Specifically, we test the hypothesis that at Hogup Cave, pronghorn hunting methods changed from a middle Holocene strategy dominated by encounter hunting of individual animals to a late Holocene strategy emphasizing large-scale communal hunting. Our analysis suggests that ancient hunters visiting Hogup Cave most likely employed small-scale encounter hunting during the fall and winter months and that this subsistence pattern varied little between the middle and late Holocene. Moreover, while hunting strategies appear to have remained generally similar throughout the 8,800-year occupational record at Hogup Cave, artiodactyl abundances show a dramatic increase relative to smaller, lower-ranked prey in late Holocene strata, suggesting that a temporal shift in the favored hunting strategy, by itself, cannot explain this trend in every context.

Résumé

Résumé

En este artículo usamos datos de edad dental del antílope americano para documentar estrategias de cacería en Hogup Cave, Utah, y explorar su relación con una tendencia generalizada en el Holoceno tardío a un incremento en la abundancia de cacería grande notada en el contexto arqueofaunístico a lo largo del Oeste Norteamericano. Específicamente, evaluamos la hipótesis de que en Hogup Cave, los métodos de cacería de antílope cambiaron de una estrategia dominada por cacería por encuentro de animales individuales en el Holoceno medio, a una estrategia enfatizando cacería comunal a larga escala en el Holoceno tardío. Nuestro análisis sugiere que los cazadores antiguos visitando Hogup Cave probablemente empleaban cacería por encuentro a pequeña escala durante los meses de Otoño e Invierno, y que este patrón de subsistencia cambió poco durante el Holoceno medio y tardío. Más aún, mientras que las estrategias de cacería parecen haberse mantenido generalmente similares a lo largo del récord ocupacional de 8800 años en Hogup Cave, las abundancias de artiodáctilos presentan un dramático incremento relativo a las presas más pequeñas y de bajo rango en los estratos del Holoceno tardío, sugiriendo que un cambio en la estrategia de cacería favorecida, por si solo, no puede explicar este patrón en todo contexto.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 74 , Issue 2 , April 2009 , pp. 299 - 321
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Aikens, C. Melvin 1970 Hogup Cave. University of Utah Anthropological Papers, No. 93. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Arkush, Brooke S. 1986 Aboriginal Exploitation of Pronghorn in the Great Basin. Journal of Ethnobiology 6:239–255.Google Scholar
Binford, Lewis R. 1981 Bones: Ancient Men and Modern Myths. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Blumenschine, Rob J., and Marean, Curtis W. 1993 A Carnivore’s View of Archaeological Assemblages. In From Bones to Behavior: Ethnoarchaeology and Experimental Contributions to the Interpretation of Faunal Remains, edited by Jean Hudson, pp. 273–300. Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Center for Archaeological Investigations, Occasional Paper 2. Carbondale. Google Scholar
Blumenschine, Rob J., and Selvaggio, Marie M. 1991 On the Marks of Marrow Bone Processing by Ham-merstones and Hyenas: The Anatomical Patterning and Archaeological Implications. In Cultural Beginnings: Approaches to Understanding Early Hominid Life-Ways in the African Savanna, edited by J. Desmond Clark, pp. 17–32. Dr. Rudolf Habelt GMBH, Bonn. Google Scholar
Broughton, Jack M., and Bayham, Frank E. 2003 Showing Off, Foraging Models, and the Ascendance of Large Game Hunting in the California Middle Archaic. American Antiquity 68:783–789.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broughton, Jack M., Byers, David A., Eckerle, William, Madsen, David, and Bryson, Reid 2008 Late Quaternary Climatic Seasonality and Artiodactyl Abundance Histories in Western North America. Quaternary Science Reviews 27:1916–1937.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byers, David A., and Broughton, Jack M. 2004 Holocene Environmental Change, Artiodactyl Abun dances, and Human Hunting Strategies in the Great Basin. American Antiquity 69:235–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byers, David A., and Smith, Craig S. 2007 Ecosystem Controls and the Archaeofaunal Record: An Example from the Wyoming Basin, USA. The Holocene 7:1171–1182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byers, David A., Smith, Craig S., and Broughton, Jack M. 2005 Holocene Artiodactyl Population Histories and Large Game Hunting in the Wyoming Basin, USA. Journal of Archaeological Science 32:125–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chamberlin, Ralph V. 1911 The Ethno-Botany of the Gosiute Indians of Utah. Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association 2:331–405.Google Scholar
Davis, Leslie B., Fisher, John W. Jr., Wilson, Michael C., Chomko, Stephen A., and Morlan, Richard E. 2000 Avonlea Phase Winter Fare at Lost Terrace, Upper Missouri River Valley of Montana: The Vertebrate Fauna. Plains Anthropologist 45 (Memoir 32):53–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drucker, Philip 1941 Culture Element Distributions: XVII, Yuman-Piman. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Durrant, Stephen D. 1970 Faunal Remains as Indicators of Neothermal Climates at Hogup Cave. In Hogup Cave, edited by C. Melvin Aikens, pp. 241–245. University of Utah Anthropological Papers, No. 93. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. Google Scholar
Egan, Howard R. 1917 Pioneering the West 1846 to 1878. Howard R. Egan Estate, Richmond, Utah.Google Scholar
Enloe, James G. 1993 Subsistence Organization in the Early Upper Paleolithic: Reindeer Hunters of the Abri du Flageolet, Couche V. In Before Lascaux: The Complex Record of the Early Upper Paleolithic, edited by Heidi Knecht, Anne Pike-Tay, and Randall White, pp. 101–115. CRC Press, Boca Raton. Google Scholar
Fisher, John W. Jr., and Frison, George C. 2000 Site Structure and Zooarchaeology at the Boar’s Tusk Site, Wyoming. Plains Anthropologist 45 (Memoir 32):89–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frison, George C. 1971 Shoshonean Antelope Procurement in the Upper Green River Basin, Wyoming. Plains Anthropologist 16:258–284.Google Scholar
Frison, George C. 2000 Observations on Pronghora Behavior and Taphonomic Analysis of Bonebeds: Implications for Analysis of the Eden-Farson Pronghorn Kill. Plains Anthropologist 45 (Memoir 32):29–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frison, George C. 2004 Survival by Hunting: Prehistoric Human Predators and Animal Prey. University of California Press, Berkeley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilmore, Harry W. 1953 Hunting Habits of the Early Nevada Paiutes. American Anthropologist 55:148–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grayson, Donald K. 1962 Blackfoot Lodge Tales: The Story of A Prairie People. Reprint. University of Nebraska, Lincoln. (Originally published 1893, David Nutt, London.)Google Scholar
Grayson, Donald K. 1993 The Desert’s Past: A Natural Prehistory of the Great Basin. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Hildebrandt, William R., and McGuire, Kelly R. 2003 Large-Game Hunting, Gender-Differentiated Work Organization, and the Role of Evolutionary Ecology in California and Great Basin Prehistory: A Reply to Broughton and Bayham. American Antiquity 68:790–792.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hockett, Bryan 1993 Taphonomy of the Leporid Bones from Hogup Cave, Utah: Implications for Cultural Continuity in the Eastern Great Basin. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Reno.Google Scholar
Hockett, Bryan 1994 A Descriptive Reanalysis of the Leporid Bones from Hogup Cave, Utah. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 16:106–117.Google Scholar
Hockett, Bryan 2005 Middle and Late Holocene Hunting in the Great Basin: A Critical Review of the Debate and Future Prospects. American Antiquity 70:713–731.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hudson, Jean 1993 The Impact of Domestic Dogs on Bone in Forager Camps; or, The Dog-Gone Bones. In From Bones to Behavior: Ethnoarchaeology and Experimental Contributions to the Interpretation of Faunal Remains, edited by Jean Hudson, pp. 301–323. Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Center for Archaeological Investigations, Occasional Paper 2. Carbondale. Google Scholar
Irving, Washington 1837 The Rocky Mountains: Or, Scenes, Incidents, and Adventures in the Far West; Digested from the Journal of Captain B. L. E. Bonneville, of the Army of the United States, and Illustrated from Other Sources. 2 vols. Carey, Lea and Blanchard, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Jung, Hans-Joachim G. 1997 Analysis of Forage Fiber and Cell Walls in Ruminant Nutrition. Journal of Nutrition 127:810S–813S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kelly, Isabel T. 1932 Ethnography of the Surprise Valley Paiute. University of Utah Anthropological Papers, No. 27. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Kelly, Isabel T. 1964 Southern Paiute Ethnography. University of Utah Anthropological Papers, No. 69. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Klein, Richard G. 1982 Age (Mortality) Profiles as a Means of Distinguishing Hunted Species from Scavenged Ones in Stone Age Archaeological Sites. Paleobiology 8:151–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kroeber, Alfred L. 1941 Culture Element Distributions: XV, Salt, Dogs, Tobacco. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Levine, Marsha A. 1983 Mortality Models and the Interpretations of Horse Population Structure. In Hunter-Gatherer Economy in Prehistory: A European Perspective, edited by Geoff Bailey, pp. 23–46. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Google Scholar
Lowie, Robert H. 1924 Shoshonean Tales. Journal of American Folklore 37:1–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lubinski, Patrick M. 1997 Pronghorn Intensification in the Wyoming Basin: A Study of Mortality Patterns and Prehistoric Hunting Strategies. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Madison.Google Scholar
Lubinski, Patrick M. 1999 The Communal Pronghorn Hunt: A Review of the Ethnographic and Archaeological Evidence. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 21:158–181.Google Scholar
Lubinski, Patrick M. 2000 Prehistoric Pronghorn Hunting in Southwest Wyoming. Plains Anthropologist 45 (Memoir 32):109–118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lubinski, Patrick M. 2001 Estimating Age and Season of Death of Pronghorn Antelope (Antilocapra americana Ord) by Means of Tooth Eruption and Wear. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 11:218–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lubinski, Patrick M., and Herren, Vicki 2000 An Introduction to Pronghorn Biology, Ethnography and Archaeology. Plains Anthropologist 45 (Memoir 32):3–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marean, Curtis W., and Spencer, Lillian M. 1991 Impact of Carnivore Ravaging on Zooarchaeological Measures of Element Abundance. American Antiquity 56:645–658.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCabe, Richard E., O’Gara, Bart W., and Reeves, Henry M. 2004 Prairie Ghost: Pronghorn and Human Interaction in Early America. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
McGuire, Kelly R., and Hildebrandt, William R. 2005 Re-Thinking Great Basin Foragers: Prestige Hunting and Costly Signaling During the Middle Archaic Period. American Antiquity 70:695–712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, Mark E., and Sanders, Paul H. 2000 The Trappers Point Site (48SU1006): Early Archaic Adaptations and Pronghorn Procurement in the Upper Green River Basin, Wyoming. Plains Anthropologist 45 (Memoir 32):39–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Munson, Patrick J., and Garniewicz, Rexford C. 2003 Age-Mediated Survivorship of Ungulate Mandibles and Teeth in Canid-Ravaged Faunal Assemblages. Journal of Archaeological Science 30:405–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nimmo, Barry W. 1971 Population Dynamics of a Wyoming Pronghorn Cohort from the Eden-Farson Site, 48SW304. Plains Anthropologist 16:285–288.Google Scholar
O’Gara, Bart W. 2004 Physiology and Genetics. In Pronghorn: Ecology and Management, edited by Bart W. O’Gara and Jim D. Yoakum, pp. 231–274. University Press of Colorado, Boulder. Google Scholar
Raymond, Anan 1982 Two Historic Aboriginal Game-Drive Enclosures in the Eastern Great Basin. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 4:23–33.Google Scholar
Savelle, James M., and McCartney, Allen P. 1991 Thule Eskimo Subsistence and Bowhead Whale Procurement. In Human Predators and Prey Mortality, edited by Mary C. Stiner, pp. 201–215. Westview Press, Boulder. Google Scholar
Schmitt, Dave N., and Lupo, Karen D. 2005 The Camels Back Mammalian Fauna. In Camels Back Cave, edited by Dave N. Schmitt and David B. Madsen, pp. 136–176. University of Utah Anthropological Papers 125. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. Google Scholar
Simpson, James H. 1869 The Shortest Route to California. J. B. Lippincott, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Smith, Craig S., and McNees, Lance M. 2000 Pronghorn and Bison Procurement During the Uinta Phase in Southwest Wyoming: A Case Study from Site 4SSW270. Plains Anthropologist 45 (Memoir 32):71–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spiess, Arthur E. 1979 Reindeer and Caribou Hunters: An Archaeological Study. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Steele, Teresa E., and Weaver, Timothy D. 2002 The Modified Triangular Graph: A Refined Method for Comparing Mortality Profiles in Archaeological Samples. Journal of Archaeological Science 29:317–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steward, Julian H. 1938 Basin-Plateau Aboriginal Sociopolitical Groups. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Steward, Julian H. 1941 Culture Element Distributions: XIII, Nevada Shoshone. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Steward, Julian H. 1943 Culture Element Distributions: XXIII, Northern and Gosiute Shoshone. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Stewart, Omer C. 1941 Culture Element Distributions: XIV, Northern Paiute. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Stiner, Mary C. 1990 The Use of Mortality Patterns in Archaeological Studies of Hominid Predatory Adaptations. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 9:305–351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiner, Mary C. 1991a An Interspecific Perspective on the Emergence of the Modern Human Predatory Niche. In Human Predators and Prey Mortality, edited by Mary C. Stiner, pp. 149–185. Westview Press, Boulder. Google Scholar
Stiner, Mary C. 1991b Introduction: Actualistic and Archaeological Studies of Prey Mortality. In Human Predators and Prey Mortality, edited by Mary C. Stiner, pp. 1–13. Westview Press, Boulder. Google Scholar
Thwaites, Reuben G. 1906 Early Western Travels, 1748–1846, Vol. 22: Part I of Maximilian, Prince of Wied’s, Travels in the Interior of North America, 1832–1834. Arthur H. Clark, Cleveland.Google Scholar
Yoakum, Jim D. 2004 Foraging Ecology, Diet Studies and Nutrient Values. In Pronghorn: Ecology and Management, edited by Bart W. O’Gara and Jim D. Yoakum, pp. 447–502. University Press of Colorado, Boulder. Google Scholar